Victor Boniface scored a 72nd-minute winner as Bayer Leverkusen completed a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Champions Leverkusen, who face Brest in the Champions League next week, missed a fifth-minute penalty through Boniface, but the Nigeria international made amends in the second half to lift Leverkusen up to 14 points in fourth place, leapfrogging Eintracht.
It was a day that also saw RB Leipzig provisionally take over the Bundesliga lead with their 2-0 victory at Mainz.
Leipzig went top on 17 after easing to victory ahead of Bayern Munich, also on 14, taking on Stuttgart later on Saturday.
Leverkusen shot out of the blocks against Eintracht and came close after a minute with a strike from Granit Xhaka.
They were awarded a penalty soon after, but Boniface's weak effort was saved by Eintracht keeper Kevin Trapp.
Eintracht scored first with their own spot kick in the 16th minute with the league's leading scorer Omar Marmoush, who also hit the woodwork, bagging his ninth goal of the top-flight campaign.
The Egypt forward has now scored in six consecutive Bundesliga matches.
Leverkusen's Robert Andrich completed a superb passing move in the 25th minute to draw the hosts level and the Germany international came close to another goal when he rattled the post with a low drive just past the hour.
But it was Boniface who scored the winner, heading in at the far post after Trapp failed to control a cross into the box.
The visitors squandered a golden chance to level deep in stoppage time after a mistake by Leverkusen's Lukas Hradecky, who became the first non-German goalkeeper to reach 300 Bundesliga matches.
But Leverkusen prevailed after defender Jonathan Tah managed to clear the ball off the line.
Data Debrief: Relentless Leverkusen prevail
While the outcome of this match remained uncertain until the final moments and the winning goal came relatively late in the game, Leverkusen deserved their victory.
Marmoush’s goal from the spot was one of only two shots on target the visitors managed, whereas Leverkusen racked up nine attempts on target and had 27 shots overall, accumulating a big expected goals (xG) total of 3.75.
That total of 27 shots is their highest in a league match in 2024-25 and nine of the attempts came from a relentless Boniface, the joint-highest total for any player in a Bundesliga game this season.
Boniface now has a team-high five league goals this season, though even those impressive figures are dwarfed by the brilliant Marmoush, who has racked up nine goals and four assists in his last six top-flight appearances for Eintracht.
Calabar, Camperdown play out 1-1 stalemate to end preliminary round
Calabar High School and Camperdown High signed off the preliminary round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup on a positive note as they played out a 1-1 stalemate in their final Zone D encounter at Red Hills Road on Saturday.
Jahreem McKenzie fired Camperdown in front in the 25th minute, but that effort was cancelled out by Jayden Perry (30th), who ensured Calabar remain upbeat heading into the second round for the first time in seven years.
With the point, Calabar ended second on 23 points, two points behind STATHS, who blanked Haile Selassie 5-0 in the other group contest. Vauxhall (13 points) ended third ahead of Camperdown (12 points), Haile Selassie (12 points) and Kingston Technical (zero).
Calabar’s Head coach Andrew Price was pleased with the effort of his fringe players.
“It was basically an audition for some of the players that didn’t get any playing time throughout the round. So we took a look at them as we go into the second round, and I must say well done to the team for this round, but the work just begins now; we have to be steadfast and resolute in our preparation for the second round because we know we are going to come up against tougher opposition,” Price said in a post-game interview.
Despite already being through to the next round of the competition, Calabar were in no mood to relent, as they were spirited at the start and looked more threatening in open play of the early exchanges. They created a few half chances but couldn’t get on target.
That allowed Camperdown to break the deadlock against the run of play when McKenzie got on the end of a through pass and confidently finished his third of the season.
However, the lead was short-lived as Calabar pulled level when Camperdown’s goalkeeper Roshawn Gilroy failed to advance to a loose ball and Perry capitalised with a close range finish to also register his third of the season.
The second half offered very little to write home about, though Calabar asserted their authority on the contest and bossed possession. Still, chances were at a premium, as the Red Hills Road boys only had a couple half looks on goal, which amounted to nothing.
The stalemate left Camperdown’s coach, Karume Huie, beaming with pride at the strides made by his young team, though they missed out on the second round.
“Yes, disappointed that we didn’t make the next round, but in live you see a light at the end of the tunnel and so I am proud of my boys. I gave some 13- and 14-year-olds a chance to play in this game, so it’s a work in progress, and we will bounce back stronger next year,” Huie declared.
Saturday’s results
Calabar 1, Camperdown 1
STATHS 5, Haile Selassie 0
Mona 1, Charlie Smith 0
Vauxhall 6, Kingston Technical 2
Jamaica College 7, Bridgeport 1
Troubled Roma still prove a great challenge for Inter, says Inzaghi
Simone Inzaghi still expects Inter to put their best foot forward as he anticipates a tough test against struggling Roma on Sunday.
Roma have won just two of their nine games across all competitions this season, though Ivan Juric's side are unbeaten in their last three home outings.
Inter, meanwhile, slipped down to third following Juventus' win on Saturday, and are looking for a fourth win on the bounce following their 2-1 derby defeat to Milan.
And even though they face a side still in search of their best form, Inzaghi has warned Inter that they cannot let their guard down.
"We know what kind of opponent we are going to face," Inzaghi told Inter TV on Saturday.
"We've faced [coach Ivan] Juric many times in recent years, he is clearly bringing his philosophy to Roma, and we must be ready to put in a good performance, both with and without the ball. [Achieving] it will take a great Inter."
Inter will be without injured midfielders Piotr Zielinski and Kristjan Asllani, though the pair have featured minimally for Inter so far, with the former only playing 68 minutes in Serie so far this season.
"The international break shouldn't influence us. Before the break we had three wins, we need to continue on our path," Inzaghi said.
"We've got many players who have played many minutes, others like Lautaro [Martinez] and [Mehdi] Taremi who have flown far but come back in quite well, all except Zielinski who returned with a slight injury and will not play.
"Asllani picked up a slight knock to his knee and also won't be available, but [Thomas] Berenbruch will be in the squad, a promising talent from [our under-19 team], so we won't have any issues."
Inter have a busy week ahead of them, returning to Champions League action on Wednesday to face Young Boys before hosting Juventus in Serie A next weekend.
Despite the packed schedule between the two international breaks, Inzaghi is determined to take it one game at a time.
"We know that we're about to play seven games in 20 days, so we need to do well but at the moment, the only concern for myself and the squad is to prepare well for the game against Roma [on Sunday]," he added.
"We will try to draw on the entire squad knowing that many of the lads try to cause me and my staff trouble on a daily basis when making our selections."
Juve 'complete' without suspended Pogba, says club director Giuntoli
Paul Pogba's hopes of playing for Juventus again took a hit on Saturday when Bianconeri director Cristiano Giuntoli said that the Serie A side are complete without him.
The 31-year-old midfielder will end his doping ban in March after testing positive for DHEA in September 2023, a banned substance that boosts testosterone levels.
The former France international had his punishment cut earlier this month from an initial four years to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and will be eligible to play for Juve as soon as the ban ends.
Yet Giuntoli suggested Thiago Motta's side are content in coping without the World Cup winner, at least for the time being.
"Our position is clear. Pogba has been a great player, he has been out for a long time and last year we were forced to invest in other players," Giuntoli told DAZN ahead of Saturday's 1-0 win over Lazio.
"So now the squad is complete as it is."
Juventus have not missed Pogba so far this season, remaining unbeaten through their first eight league games after Mario Gila's own goal handed them the narrow win over Lazio.
The club are yet to release any further update on Pogba, whose contract in Turin expires in June 2026.
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